Feminist Propaganda

Women are governed, molded, and mobilized during times of peace and war to adhere to a set of opinions and attitudes furthered by the state through the use of propaganda campaigns that promote both femininity and female empowerment. Feminist propaganda campaigns pose complex insinuations concerning the question of gender all while creating an image of what it means to be a woman. Historically, women have been considered as second-class members of society; however, certain nations have challenged these perceptions that label women as inferior and insubordinate to both men and the state. The United States, Nazi Germany and China have used various forms of media through the years to reach women and girls of all generations to empower them to rise to their God-given potential whether for political, economic, or social reasons. The origins and implications of feminist propaganda are evident across the regions of the United States, Nazi Germany, and China where generations can see the pockets of female empowerment in both poster campaigns featuring women front and center and film featuring women in leading roles. The following is not intended to highlight the ‘big picture’ propaganda campaign in the various examples examined, rather this essay is intended to shed light on the underlying pockets of feminist propaganda hidden in overarching themes. The messages of femininity and female empowerment behind “Everyone for Victory”, “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science”, Legally Blonde, and Battleship are built upon the values and beliefs of the concept of autonomy, the facilitation of liberation, the celebration of sexuality, and the principle of gender equality.

Historically, it’s only recently women have begun to become autonomous to men. In addition, it’s only recently both men and women have begun to conceptualize what it means for women to be given agency. Autonomy is usually understood by feminist writers in the same way that it is understood within moral psychology generally, namely, as self-government or self-direction: being autonomous is acting on motives, reasons, or values that are one’s own. “Everyone for Victory”, “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science”, Legally Blonde, and Battleship define this sense of agency by including women who embrace individualized choices and actions. For example, the films Legally Blonde, and Battleship include strong female roles who struggle with the meaning of selfhood compared to their male counterparts. What is their purpose? How can autonomy be established alongside their male peers? The characters Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and Cora Raikes in Battleship are not the central characters of the movies, however their sense of selfhood establishes them as notable characters as part of the film’s feminist propaganda campaign. The triumph of the women characters may be what we ultimately remember about the films and what makes these films so culturally important.

On the other hand, poster campaigns promoting feminist values have dominated headlines for the past seventy years. In particular, Nazi Germany and China have promoted female autonomy as a part of each’s own ideology that yes, giving women agency might advance their nation politically, economically, and socially. “Everyone for Victory” and “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science” perfectly depict the ideologies behind Nazism in the 1940s and the Chinese communism in the 1980s. The posters place women front and center displaying women’s agency. The woman in “Everyone for Victory” emphasizes the need for unity, while the woman in “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science” using gender to call women to participate in society. Though each poster has slightly different messages, the overarching theme across them show women autonomous from men. In addition, each example depicts what it means for women to be given agency, whether in German or Chinese society.

Another very common feminist theme is the idea of liberating women from the very bounds of society that confines them as inferior and subordinate to society based upon masculine notions. The facilitation of liberation is a collective struggle amongst women for equality and sovereignty. What is the proper place for women in a liberal society and how do women fit in the liberal tradition’s treatment of women? History has shown women’s liberation has confronted women’s sexual identity with the idea that they seek liberation from beyond the household. Their eschatological aim is to topple the patriarchal system in which men by birthright control all of society’s levers of power – in government, industry, education, science, the arts. This attack against the status quo is what facilitates female empowerment. This can be seen in the female characters in a number of examples of propaganda. For example, the films Legally Blonde and Battleship include two examples of women who have freed themselves from societal expectations of what it means to be a woman by pathing their own unique individual paths. At the heart of Legally Blonde are the relationships between Elle and the women around her, from her sorority sisters to her manicurist to her former nemesis. All of these women can be petty and shallow, but they also display encouragement, empathy and loyalty. They don’t let differences in status and lifestyle or squabbles over a man’s affection prevent them from forming strong relationships. In fact, these women have empowered themselves to embrace their potential with Elle completing law school and Cora earning high command in the Naval ranks.

The ultimate purpose of preserving the freedom and dignity of liberated women is to focus on the well-being of women that is essential to any possibility of re-launching a sophisticated civilization where masculinity is no longer the order of the day. “Everyone for Victory” and “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science” are just a couple of examples of a larger poster campaign aimed at depicting both the liberation of women and a society supporting female freedom and dignity. Nazi Germany in the 1940s and China in the 1980s similarly used women as iconic symbols by creating motivation for reaching political ends, thereby framing Nazi and Chinese patriotism as we know it today. These propaganda posters are instrumental parts in national campaigns go enlist women for a cause, whether for unity or for science.

The message of the celebration of sexuality lies behind feminist propaganda. Feminist views on sexuality recognizes the natural characteristics, strengths, and abilities of women and seeks to affirm them in this identity. It is arguable that the celebration of sexuality lies in identity politics, where political positions are based upon the interests and perspectives of social groups with which people identify. Feminist propaganda messages can use sexuality as a tool for people to identify with a certain social group. The propaganda examples illustrate the belief that a wide variety of expressions of female sexuality can be empowering to women when they are freely chosen. Legally Blonde is, on one hand, a product of early 2000s America and its fixation on gender binaries and shallow thinking. But, believe it or not, this film pushed boundaries for the time with a narrative that placed women’s education and careers above the need for romance. Additionally, Legally Blonde questioned women’s place as primarily sexual creatures, allowing a stereotypically “feminine” and attractive woman to flaunt her girlishness while achieving greatness alongside her male colleagues in court. Battleship is a feminist piece of propaganda posing as a guy flick. Though the film primarily serves as Navy-recruitment propaganda, the character of Cora is significant in highlighting the significance of gender representation in Hollywood. The film’s attitude on sexuality is that gender is portrayed as a dismissal of dominant cultural scripts of both femininity and gender roles.

Feminist propaganda tends to support moral values and promote standards of society. One of the most prominent values of feminist propaganda focuses on the basic similarities between men and women. The principle of gender equality is that all sexes are equal in a domains, including freedom from gender stereotypes. Will equality allow women to blossom to best serve the interests of the state? The message of female empowerment centers on eliminating gender stereotypes by promoting women as equal and undifferentiated from men. “Everyone for Victory”, “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science”, Legally Blonde, and Battleship each show equality as a perspective of feminism by going against the patriarchic framework of society. Feminism has infiltrated and co-opted Hollywood with female characters becoming more prominent in leading roles and being featured just as masculine as men. Hollywood alongside feminists will use to insist on the trope that women are equal to men in all things, including physique, strength, and logic. Thus, the characters of Elle in Legally Blonde and Cora in Battleship are born. The lines between masculinity and femininity are drawn in these films with featuring women equally alongside men, further promoting women for men, and men for women. Therefore the feminist propaganda that has crafted the characters of Elle and Cora is grounded in the message that female empowerment is rooted in balancing power between men and women; thus Hollywood has begun display notions of gender equality to an extent.

Though gender equality had not been the new order in Nazi society, “Everyone for Victory” depicts how Nazi Germany views on gender and sexuality were developed and enforced by the regime’s ideological ambitions. The poster subscribes to the idea that women too would sacrifice for the greater good of the state, therefore everyone is equally sacrificing for the Nazi regime. Though this may have stemmed from the glorification of war at the time, nevertheless, Nazi ideals on the role of women in society were developed in reaction to the freedoms experienced by women. Did Nazi ideology support gender equality? No, but the Nazi regime did promote a sense of empowerment within women by expressing heroic and self-sacrificing qualities. Similarly, “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science” depicts a sense of femininity in its propaganda message by empowering women with science by attempting to raise women’s consciousness. Though gender equality may not have been the forefront of this poster campaign, it nevertheless attempts to reform women’s status in Chinese society.

Propaganda themes and techniques are shared cross-regionally at similar and different points of time through a wide array of mediums. Though these countries and mediums differ cross-regionally, they similarly use techniques to deliver embedded messages in the propaganda administered by the states themselves. In addition, feminism may not have been part of the main messages behind “Everyone for Victory”, “Love Science, Study Science, Use Science”, Legally Blonde, or Battleship, however gendered propaganda is hidden in the overarching propaganda campaigns that acknowledge the importance of women. The future of female empowerment campaigns hold defining messages of what it means to have the thoughts and perceptions of both men and women challenged. Hopefully readers of this essay have become more consciously aware of the potential foundations of feminism hidden in overarching propaganda campaigns.